Management
Darren Head, President and Chief Executive Officer
Darren Head has 18 successful years of experience in biological, device and drug manufacturing operations, most recently leading Immucor Inc. While at Immucor he served as Vice President of Worldwide Operations as he directed commercial activities for all global operations. He previously headed Aronex Pharmaceuticals manufacturing and clinical supply operations in late Phase 3 programs. He was instrumental in preparing CMC sections for two NDA submissions. Prior to joining Aronex, Darren was Senior Director of Operations for Allergan Inc. He also proudly served in the United States Air Force. He holds a BS in Biology and completed most class work for a MBA from Texas A&M.
John Conner, Vice President Operations
John Conner has over 30 years of experience in research, process development and manufacturing of complex biotherapeutics. Before joining Cytovance, Mr. Conner directed Manufacturing Technical Support, Manufacturing and Process /Analytical Method development at CancerVax where he characterized, developed and managed process development, scale up and manufacturing of many different complex cancer immunotherapeutics. John was also involved in the design and build out of several GMP manufacturing facilities at CancerVax. Previous to CancerVax, he held similar positions at John Wayne Cancer Institute (JWCI). Prior to JWCI, Mr. Conner worked at GTL-Novartis (Novartis’ West Coast Gene Therapy research and production unit) As the Process Development and Production Manager, Mr. Conner managed the development of viral and non-viral vectors, developed scale-up processes and manufactured retroviral vectors. John attended Texas Tech University and holds a B.S. degree in Microbiology and completed his M.S. Graduate Studies in Biological Sciences from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Jeffrey Su, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer
Jeffrey Su, Ph.D, has more than 17 years experience in the Pharmaceutical/Biotech industry. He has extensive experience in R & D, Process development, cGMP manufacturing, Analytical development and Quality systems as well as Regulatory affairs. Before joining Cytovance, he was the VP of Operation and Product Development at Femta Pharmaceuticals. Prior to his tenure at Femta he served as the Deputy Director and Platform leader for formulation at Sanofi Pasteur. In advance of Sanofi Pasteur, Jeffrey was the Senior Director for Manufacturing and Control at CancerVax Inc. Jeffrey also worked for Dow Chemical, Tanox Inc., Pharming Healthcare Inc., Medarex, Human Genome Sciences and Roche with increasing responsibilities. Jeffrey has 25 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 16 granted patents and applications. Jeffrey holds a BS in Chemistry as well as an MS in Organic Chemistry from Nankai University and a PhD in BioChemistry from Carleton University.
Bill Minshall, Vice President of Quality Systems
Bill Minshall has more than 30 years experience in the Pharmaceutical/Biotech industry. Prior to joining Cytovance Bill was Principal of ASL Consultants, Inc a consulting group that focused primarily on FDA regulated industries. Prior to that he held the Senior Vice President of Operations position at CancerVax Corporation where he directed manufacturing, product development, material control, engineering and quality assurance/control. In advance of his time at CancerVax Minshall was Vice President of Operations and Engineering at Cellpro Inc. Early on Bill had tenure with Baxter Healthcare Corporation that spanned more than a decade during which he held various positions. Bill holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Unites States Air Force Academy and a Master of Science in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas.
Rabi Prusti, PhD, Executive Director of Quality Control & Analytical Development
Dr. Prusti comes to Cytovance with 18 years experience in R&D, Quality Systems, Quality Control and Compliance, Assay Development, Validation, CMC Documentation including IND, NDA & DMF. Before his time at Cytovance Dr. Prusti was an Assistant Professor within the Department of Chemistry at Columbus State University. At the same time he consulted companies on matters concerning compliance, OOS investigation, Validation, Quality Control, Analytical/Bioanalytical Method Development and Optimization. Prior Dr. Prusti held senior positions at CancerVax, Protein Helix, VITEX, and Curative Health Services. Dr. Prusti has written and contributed to numerous published papers and abstracts. Dr. Prusti completed his Bachelor of Science at Utkal University in India, Master of Science and Master of Philosophy at Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He hold a Ph.D in Biochemistry from Texas Tech University and completed his post doctoral research at the University of Washington, School of Medicine in Seattle.